Draft prospect: Luke Babbitt

The Spurs own the 20th pick in the June 24 draft, their highest slot since taking Tim Duncan first overall in 1997. Between now and then, the Courtside blog will profile selected players who could be wearing silver and black come next month.

Nevada forward Luke Babbitt, like Kansas’ Xavier Henry, is another player on the board who could provide it.

A 42.1-percent shooter from 3-point range during his two seasons in college, Babbitt’s stock has been on the rise since declaring for the draft in April. The 6-foot-9 Babbitt is a skilled offensive player, averaging 21.9 points as a sophomore. Not simply a catch-and-shoot gunner, Babbitt has demonstrated an ability to create his own looks as well.

Babbitt wouldn’t help the Spurs much defensively — he lacks the lateral quickness to guard NBA small forwards, and the size to match up with power forwards — but should be able to find his niche in the league as a bench scorer. Certainly, he possesses the floor-spreading capabilities the Spurs have always coveted (see Bonner, Matt).

Initially not considered a first-round pick, Babbitt is coming off a strong showing at the NBA’s pre-draft camp in Chicago, where the Spurs were among the teams to interview him. The most recent mock drafts have Babbitt going anywhere from 15th to the low 20s, which would put him squarely in the middle of the Spurs’ crosshairs.

Jeff McDonald

3 Responses

Babbitt would be a mistake at the 20th spot. There are a lot of other SF/PF and PF/C that should be available at the 20th spot that the Spurs would be better off selecting. This team needs shooters, but length and athleticism are even bigger needs especially if Splitter isn’t planning on signing for next season. Larry Sanders, Paul George, Stanley Robinson or Solomon Alabi would be better selections. I’d also prefer Craig Brackins or Jarvis Varnado to Babbitt even though the 20th spot is a little too high for either one.

He is very slow. Looks slower then Matt. But he can move with the ball better then Matt. Matt dribbles like girls in the WNBA.(imo where he belongs) Lukes a lefty and to me would be a waste of space. What do you expect from way down in the 20th pick? Show me some real talent plz.(he plays for a bunch of tiny kids, so he looks pretty good, but put him in this league and he wont crack the rotation……….